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Portugal
Travel
Book

General Information:

Population Density:
108.2 per sq km.

Capital: Lisbon.
Population: 3,319,900 (1997).

Government: Republic
since 1910.
Head of State: President Aníbal Cavaco Silva since 2006.
Head of Government: Prime Minister José Sócrates since 2005.

Economy: Portugal is
an upcoming capitalist economy with a per capita GDP two-thirds that of
the four big West European economies. The country qualified for the
European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and joined with 10 other European
countries in launching the euro on 1 January 1999. The year 2000 was
marked by moderation in growth, inflation, and unemployment. The country
continues to run a sizable trade deficit. The government is working to
reform the tax system, to modernize capital plant, and to increase the
country's competitiveness in the increasingly integrated world markets.
Growth is expected to fall off slightly in 2001. Improvement in the
education and health sector are critical to the long-run catch-up process.

Language:
Portuguese. English is widely spoken within the business community.

Religion: Roman
Catholic.

Time: GMT (GMT + 1
from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

Electricity: 220
volts AC, 50Hz. 110 volts in some areas and 220 DC in parts of the south.
Continental two-pin plugs are in use.

Communications:
Telephone: IDD is available. Country code: 351. Outgoing international
code: 00. There are call boxes in most villages and all towns; there are
also public telephones in many cafés and bars, from which international
calls may be made.

Telegram: There are
telegram facilities at most major hotels. The public office at Praça dos
Restauradores, Lisbon is open daily 0900-1800.

Post: Post offices
(correios) are usually open Mon-Fri 0900-1800. Central post offices and
those at airports are open Saturday. Airmail to European destinations from
continental Portugal and the Azores takes three days; from Madeira, up to
five days. There are poste restante facilities at post offices throughout
the country.

Press: Each region
has its own Portuguese-language dailies. The English-language newspapers
published in Portugal include: Anglo Portuguese News (Lisbon), and The
News (Algarve).